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Friday, January 16, 2009

Kander's Obama's People

The NY Times commissioned photographer Nadav Kander to take photographs of members of the incoming Obama administration. The 52-photo portfolio will run in the Sunday Times Magazine, but it's online now.

Observations:

• There're all the same picture, just with different people in it.

• If you're going to have Kander take your picture, wear dark pants or get your suit pressed. If you're a woman, don't let Kander take your picture.

Update: The NY Times has been whining that Obama has not given them a special sit-down interview, as has been "traditional" with incoming Presidents. Looking at these pictures, I think we now know why.

Currently Reading

In Defense of a Liberal Education, by Fareed Zakaria. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, the damn Kindle edition doesn't include the publication date.

"The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has pointed to three ideas associated with the humanities that have positively shaped the world. First, he notes the philosopher Isaiah Berlin's warning that the belief in a single, all-encompassing truth inevitably produces blind arrogance, possibly leading to dangerous consequences. Second, he highlights John Rawls's contribution to political thought: that the most just society would be the one you would choose if you did not know how rich or poor or how talented or untalented you were when born into it. ... Lastly, Kristof highlights the work of Peter Singer, who has brought the treatment of animals and the pain that human beings often needlessly cause them to the fore of our moral consciousness."